Before I even start with this, I am going to admit that this will be slightly biased in favor of Illinois since I am a student here. So lets get it started. The question is, will the Fighting Illini make it into this year tournament?

Strengths and Weaknesses:

I really like that the Illini are a young team and can still pull off big wins. They only have one senior on their roster, who receives relatively low playing time, plus they have some big play freshman and an even better recruiting class next year. Sorry about that tangent; its this year we are worried about!

Their lack of leadership makes them relatively inconsistent: they have won huge games away against Wisconsin, away against Clemson, home against Michigan State, and home against Vanderbilt. One the contrary, they have lost games they should have won against weak teams such as Northwestern and Utah, and had an embarrassing performance against Minnesota the other night, scoring only 14 points in the first half.

Along with these loses, the fact that only 6 of their 18 wins have been against opponents ranked higher then 149 is going to hurt them. If they want to be guaranteed a spot, they need to win at least one of their two next games, against tough opponents Wisconsin and Ohio State, along with at least one or two wins in the Big 10 tournament.

In or Out?!

So its all been laid out.. are they in or out?

My vote puts them IN! This team is a young talented team capable of big wins. They would be a great addition to the tournament and deserve a spot.